Current shortages of electric power are causing concern and economic disruption within many industrialized countries. For example, within the past year, many parts of California have experienced power shortages where electrical utilities were compelled to turn off service to their customers in what have been termed xe2x80x9crolling blackoutsxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9crolling brownouts.xe2x80x9d The cost of these disruptions in service can be significant. For example, it has been estimated that the cost of shutting down a semiconductor manufacturing facility due to inadequate electrical power can run into millions of dollars per hour.
Many factors have been blamed for the shortage of electrical power. One culprit is a shortage of deliverable power. i.e.; while generation capabilities exist to meet total demand, the supply is insufficient to meet demand at certain peak load hours such as the hottest part of the day during summer months or the coldest part of the day during winter months. Many experts and governmental officials propose constructing additional generation plants in order to meet these peak load needs. However, new generation plants are costly and require a long lead-time to obtain necessary permits. Further, environmental and other concerns often require new electrical power generation facilities to be located considerable distances from the urban areas where the power is ultimately consumed. This creates another problem exacerbating electrical power shortages; an insufficient transmission infrastructure.
Currently, much of the power generated in the United States is transported across electrical power lines placed property that is not owned by the owner of the electrical power lines. Transmission towers, power poles and the like instead utilize easements, or rights of way, to allow their placement on property. Building additional capacity to transport additional power thus often requires the construction of new infrastructure which traverses a patchwork of different property owners. Rights of way must often be separately negotiated with each individual owner, a process which is both time consuming and expensive.
Accordingly, there is a need for methods and devices that allow the expansion of the power carrying capacity of the existing electrical grid without the need to build expensive new infrastructure. There is a further need for methods and devices that allow electrical power transmission to more effectively balance the generating capabilities with electrical power demand.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for improving the performance of an electrical power distribution grid, wherein the grid utilizes existing rights of way to traverse real property. This objective is met by providing a plurality of electrical storage devices capable of alternately storing and discharging electricity located within existing rights of way, and connecting those storage devices to the grid. Preferably, while not meant to be limiting, the electrical storage devices are batteries that may be alternately charged during periods of low power consumption and discharged during periods of high power consumption. In this manner, the power generating facilities can be operated at constant, or near constant generation, thereby optimizing the efficiency and productivity of the power generation. Significant amounts of power can then be stored within these batteries throughout the grid, thereby allowing the grid to meet peak loads by discharging the stored power during periods of high demand. Additionally, the placement of these batteries within existing rights of way allow the existing grid to be retrofitted to deliver more power without the need for costly and time consuming negotiations for new rights of way. Rights-of-way as described in the present invention include, but are not limited to, those geographic areas designated through a permit granted by local or regional or national authority for use in certain industries for specified uses.
The types of right-of-way preferably utilized for the practice of the present invention for battery storage placement include, but are not limited to, gas line rights-of-way, power line rights-of-way, substation rights-of-way, petroleum rights-of-way, communications rights-of-way (such as fiber-optic or telephone), road rights-of-way, water rights-of-way, sewer rights-of-way, and railroad rights-of-way. The most rapid beneficial use of the present invention may be achieved by the use of existing rights of way. However, as new infrastructure is put in place, the benefits and advantages of the present invention may find further utility in utilizing new rights of way for the placement of batteries or other electrical storage devices. It is thus a further object of the present invention to locate at least some of the electrical storage devices within new rights of way that may be granted from time to time to expand the grid.
It is a further object of the present invention to utilize existing rights of way selected from the group consisting of gas line rights-of-way, power line rights-of-way, substation rights-of-way, petroleum rights-of-way, communications rights-of-way, road rights-of-way, water rights-of-way, sewer rights-of-way, railroad rights-of-way, and combinations thereof.
It is a further object of the present invention to place the electrical storage devices within the rights of way for electric transmission poles utilized in said grid.
It is a further object of the present invention to place the electrical storage devices within existing electrical transmission poles.
These and other objects of the present invention may be better understood and appreciated by reference to the following drawings and detailed description of the invention.